PREMIER LEAGUE TOSHACK BACK FOR SWANSEA!
No, not that one ...legend’s son Cameron joins Britton’s backroom team in fight to stay up
SWANSEA CITY have turned to a club legend and a throwback name in a desperate bid to keep themselves from becoming Premier League history.
Leon Britton, a Swansea hero over the past 15 years, has been put in caretaker charge for this weekend’s match with Crystal Palace, and the player- coach will be assisted by Cameron Toshack, whose father John took the club from the Fourth Division to the first in the Eighties.
A third strand of the interim team is Gary Richards, who has worked alongside the highly rated Toshack, 47, with Swansea’s impressive Under 23 side.
The club hoped to have a permanent replacement for Paul Clement for tomorrow’s crucial fixture. Swansea are prioritising candidates who are unemployed and have recent Premier League experience. Frank de Boer is under consideration despite his woeful time at Crystal Palace.
Aitor Karanka and Slaven Bilic are also believed to be in the frame, while bookie’s favourite Tony Pulis is not currently a contender, as Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday. Ronald Koeman was sounded out earlier this month but is not interested and Ryan Giggs ruled himself out yesterday, after failing to impress during an interview at the club last year. Ambitiously, there was also a discreet approach to Louis van Gaal recently but the former Manchester United manager was not keen.
For Britton, it is a significant step up, having joined Clement’s coaching staff only last month. The 35-year-old has a long-term interest in the position but admitted yesterday that this current opportunity has come sooner than he would have preferred.
He said: ‘I don’t think it is the right time for me to take the job on a permanent basis. It is not to say I wouldn’t take it in the future.’
Despite the rotten results and performances that saw Clement sacked following eight defeats in 10 games, Britton believes Swansea have the squad to get out of trouble.
‘Of course there are going to be people who write us off but last year people did the same thing and we were able to get out of it.
‘So you have got to use that experience, keep the belief, and we can do it. I do believe that the squad of players we’ve got here can get us out of this situation.’
Clement released a statement yesterday expressing his ‘sadness and regret’ at his departure, and said keeping Swansea in the Premier League last season was ‘by far his proudest and greatest achievement as a coach’.